CNBC

CNBC's Mark Hoffman knows TV. He also know a lot of people. He's combining his knowledge of both for a video for his son's bar mitzvah later this month.

According to Page Six, the video will include NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer even Yankee slugger Derek Jeter.

"Mark wanted to hire the best," CNBC spokesman Brian Steel tells the Post. "It was long ago company-approved, and he will be paying for it out of his own pocket."

On Tuesday, CNBC debuts its latest doc, "Inside the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue."

CNBC's sports biz reporter Darren Rovell reports on what the annual SI Swimsuit Issue -- a $1 billion multimedia franchise -- means to parent company Time Inc.

"Business Model: Inside the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue" premieres Tuesday at 9pmET. The 2010 edition hits newsstands and SI.com the same day.

The business networks are tearing through interviews out in Davos, Switzerland this week during the World Economic Forum. CNBC's Maria Bartiromo is doing 34 of them in three days, including ones with President Bill Clinton, Kofi Annan, Lang Lang, and the Presidents of Greece, South Africa, Iceland, and the European Central Bank. She also rang the opening bell for the NYSE this morning from Switzerland.

"I'm a people person," CNBC's Senior Talent Producer Lori Ann LaRocco says about her job booking high-profile guests for the network. "It's all about relationships and trust. I've just got a really good knack for it."

And a Rolodex to match. LaRocco, who will mark ten years with CNBC in May, tapped into her deep well of contacts — which include captains of industry and investment gurus — to write her first book, Thriving in the New Economy: Lessons from Today's Top Business Minds, officially out this week.

The idea for the book emerged in the wake of the nation's financial meltdown last year. LaRocco wondered how business and economic leaders are navigating through this make-or-break storm, and what individual investors can learn from them.

"There's a story here," LaRocco tells TVNewser. "What are they doing, and why?" She says her 23 interviewees — which include publisher Steve Forbes, Goldman Sachs' Abby Joseph Cohen, and Saks Fifth Avenue CEO Steve Sadove — "were so candid."

Their insights, LaRocco says, carry a common theme: "to recognize you have a problem, then fix it...Real leaders look ahead."

It's financial counsel that could well serve as general life advice. "If you believe in something, do it," LaRocco continues. "Don't have the naysayers make you question what you want to do."

After she finished anchoring "Closing Bell" from the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas today, we sat down with CNBC's Maria Bartiromo. We talked about the December jobs report -- and what it means for the media industry -- and the business news coverage of Pres. Obama's first year in office. Bartiromo also promised news about her brand "Money Honey," a nickname she got while reporting from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, which she trademarked three years ago.

CNBC's David Faber continues his reporting on the marriage and subsequent breakup of AOL Time Warner. What was touted as "The Deal of the Century" 10 years ago, came to an end a few months ago. Tonight at 10pmET/PT, Faber reports on how one of the most momentous deals in history came together - and fell apart - with new insight from the architects of the deal: Gerald Levin and Steve Case.

• Related: Gerald Levin Apologizes for Merger

CNBC is calling this first week of 2010 "Tech Week," featuring special coverage across the network and ending with live reports and anchored shows from the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

It's Apple night tomorrow and Tuesday with two documentaries: "Welcome To Macintosh" and "MacHEADS" which tell the story of how Apple came to be.

Wednesday, at 10pmET, CNBC's David Faber presents "Marriage from Hell: Breakup of AOL Time Warner." And Thursday, at 10pmET, "Plant of the Apps" hosted by CNBC's Scott Wapner.

CNBC will broadcast live from CES Thursday and Friday as Maria Bartiromo anchors "Closing Bell" and "The Wall Street Journal Report" from NBC Universal's studio at the show. NBC Universal is the CES broadcast partner.

CNBC's Media & Entertainment Reporter Julia Boorstin, and CNBC's Silicon Valley Bureau Chief Jim Goldman, will provide coverage and interviews from CES throughout CNBC's Business Day programming.

• I'll be covering CES again this year for several mediabistro.com blogs including TVNewser, WebNewser and eBookNewser...

CNBC Asia Pacific's Amanda Drury returns to Englewood Cliffs, NJ today for another two-week stint filling-in on her American counterpart. She'll be anchoring CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" (9-11amET) and "Street Signs" (2-3pmET). Drury, who works at CNBC's Sydney headquarters now, sat down with TVNewser for a video interview in August, the last time she was in town.

Tonight, CNBC's Melissa Francis anchors a new CNBC Investigates, "The Big Business of Illegal Gambling." Francis takes viewers beyond the Las Vegas strip where there's a thriving underworld of illegal gambling -- a multi-billion dollar business that has millions of Americans getting in on the action. The special debuts tonight at 9pmET on CNBC.

And later on Nightline, ABC's Neal Karlinsky takes viewers inside Vegas' biggest gamble yet: the 4,004-room Aria Hotel-Casino which is part of the $8.5 billion MGM-Mirage CityCenter complex. The 18-million-square-foot behemoth is considered the crown jewel of the Strip and is opening as the U.S. emerges from a crushing recession. Which may be best evidenced by current room rates in Las Vegas. You could book a room at Ceasers Palace tonight for $81.

The complex opens to the public tomorrow.

CNBC is preparing to bring Wall Street Journal deputy managing editor Nik Deogun on board as the network's new managing editor, reports the NYTimes.

Talking Biz News reports that Deogun has held the WSJ position since July 2008, overseeing "the paper's global network of bureaus and correspondents." Deogun had also been the editor of the Money & Investing section and deputy chief of the Washington bureau.

Charlie Gasparino and Steve Liesman were also WSJ staffers that moved CNBC.

The Times also reports:

As managing editor, Mr. Deogun will be responsible for day-to-day business news coverage and long-term strategy. The network's current managing editor is Tyler Mathisen who, according to a CNBC employee who asked for anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak on this issue, will become a vice-president at the network and return to TV as an anchor for "Power Lunch."

Update: It's official. Senior VP Jeremy Pink sent a message to CNBC staffers announcing both Mathisen's promotion and Deogun's hiring. Deogun will start at CNBC next February.

Full note after the jump.

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